Sunday 6 March 2016

Markwin Kobus: My Days In Calais

The first day back in the warehouse in Calais, so good to be back, despite the bad news about the court ruling. We planned to go to Dunkirk to build community kitchens, but this project is postponed for a week, so we just got stuck in at the warehouse

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Day 3 in Calais, we planned to go into the Jungle before the riot police  close it off. We got there at 9.00 and managed to climb the ditch but at the top of the ditch we were ordered by the riot police to stay there, not to go into the camp. It was cold, damp, mist/drizzle, and about 5 degrees colder then Ireland, so therefore no one was out to resist, just a few people watching. The cops and personnel were busy taking down shelters, working their way up systematically through the camp. There was little or no resistance, no teargas, they were steadily displacing people, for what??? READ MORE.


DAY 4
PLEASE, share this situation far and wide let everybody know what is going on. In Holland there is an expression, that says "living like a God in France" Now i suggest we change that into "living like a demon in France"........................ READ MORE


DAY 5
Yesterday the clearing of the camp continued steadily, without too many incidents between police and volunteers/refugees. It's bizarre, around the Ashram kitchen there isn't a building left standing, so it's now in the middle of the waste ground, but still in use. There is a desperation amongst volunteers mainly, as they don't know how long this will go on. READ MORE


DAYS 6 & 7


Tomorrow will be the last day for us in Calais. There after I will miss it, probably cry regularly over news in relation to the sufferings of the refugees in Europe and the Middle East.... Still, I'm getting very tired and worn out here, it feels like it's time to go home, to recharge my batteries, and spread the word and compassion in Ireland.
Yesterday I was struck by the destruction by the French authorities in the jungle, what they describe as a very humane eviction of the camp... READ MORE